Project:Etherion - Lucina's Beginning
by Phoenix of Crystals
Summary: The magic council has started a new project, a more focused, human-sized weapon with the same total power of Etherion. Something like that would be a great asset, but also a heavy burden. A versatile machine, capable of infiltrating and destroying those that they couldn't trust the guilds with. Was I right to agree to this? This story is completely full of OCs, no canon characters.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Hundreds of miles away from any town, a tall, frost covered mountain range stood tall, the howling wind audible even at the mountains base. A low rumbling echoed throughout the valley, warning anyone who dared approach the vast mountains of danger. Yet, nary had a soul set foot in these parts for centuries. Not only was it a threat to any it viewed as a trespasser, but these mountains were not available to the public.

The area surrounding the mountain range, estimating to be a near 100 acres, was cordoned off by the magic council. Why they did this was a mystery to anyone aside from the ones in charge of the cordon. They had just assumed that whatever it was was for the good of Fiore. All they did was set up fences around it. They didn't ask about it, mindlessly obeying the orders of their superiors.

What they didn't know, was that it wasn't the mountains that were important, rather what was beneath them. A quarter mile underneath the surface, worked on by several metal smiths and construction workers, a research lab was created in secret. The purpose was to create a new weapon, one which would be as powerful as Etherion itself, but a smaller and more condensed version. It would be more focused so that the voting for its use wouldn't be needed. They would also carry out missions across Fiore, ones the council didn't find suitable for any guild to take.

The facility, dubbed Inquisitive Magic and Development, IMD for short, only took up a fifth of the total separated area. The scientists ordered to work there only needed that much. And one room in particular was of any importance to them. The central area of the lab, the biggest room, where everything would take place. And in this room, the key people of the entire project could be located, directing several people who were moving unmarked crates to several locations.

The first of these people was a male in his mid to late twenties, a shaved head, a pair of green eyes, and pencil thin eyebrows that even close up they were hard to see. His face was clean cut, not a single trace of facial hair, and it was mostly round, the only exception being his chin, which was pointy enough that it could probably take an eye out. His attire consisted of a white lab coat, left opened to show he simply had a plain white t-shirt on under, white pants, and, oddly enough, no shoes. He was pale enough that if he almost blended in with his all white outfit. At the moment he seemed to be yelling at the workers. "Oi, not over there you frick frackety-ing ninny boo boos!" His voice had a thick, Indian accent, gaining a few stares from the people he wasn't yelling at. "Don't put the ionized polycarbons by the sheets of dihydrogen monoxide! The go over there by the multigranular disaccharides!" As he yelled, he began to stomp his foot down on the floor, just making a small and unintimidating slap like noise.

This little show had earned him a small chuckle from the only other scientist in the room. Unlike the first, the second one was a she and wasn't quite as pale. She at least had a light tan, and a more narrow, slender face. Her hair was the color of chocolate brown, put up into a high ponytail, and her eyes were a deep sea blue. Her attire was mostly the same as her partner's, but the main differences were that her lab coat was buttoned up all the way, and she had on a pair of black penny loafers. Also, she had on a pair of thin framed, rectangular glasses. Her laughter seemed to get the other man's attention, since he glared in her direction. She quickly shook her head, walking over to him and patting him on the head, being a few inches taller than him. "Oh, Abraham. You need to stop with the comedy act. I mean 'frick frackety-ing ninny boo boos'? And in that ridiculous accent." She couldn't help but chuckle again, imagining his voice saying that. Of course, this only caused the male, Abraham, to scowl at the slightly taller female.

"Geez," he said with a cockney accent this time, and venom dripping from his words. "I'll speak however I want to Artistry."

"It's Artemis, not Artistry. Get your boss's name right," the girl, Artemis, said with a superior tone. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but the loud thud of a crate falling drew her train of thought away from the conversation, and to the source of the noise. One of the workers had dropped a box containing some sort of purplish blue crystals. The crystals were all unharmed, but the box was in shambles. The head scientist sighed, put a hand on her forehead, and moved her head side to side. "Oh come on." Artemis then walked over to the pile of crystals, kneeling down and scooping them up. "You need to be more careful. These Britarex crystals are rare in Fiore." She looked up over her glasses at the people, who immediately began to follow her example.

Across the room Abraham was yelling at the workers again, something about carbohydrates and titanium. Honestly, Artemis didn't care about Abraham's yelling. He was the person in charge of designing the weapons, she was just there to double check his work and make improvements as she saw fit. The baldy was the person behind it all and, despite Artemis' position, would get all the credit. Not that that was what it was all about, but it was a good chunk in her mind.

She got the crystals all organized together, beginning to scold the workers. After she finally finished, they walked off to continue their work. Artemis just watched them walk away, feeling a small headache come on. She was about to tell Abraham to take over while she left for a bit when she felt something tug on her pant leg. She looked down, seeing a small girl, probably about the age of 4 or 5, in a pink onesie with a yellow floral pattern. She was rubbing one eye, the other one open, showing her blue-green eye. Her hair was orange, reaching her shoulder, waving as she swayed her head back and forth, obviously trying to stay awake. She was pulling on Artemis' pants with her free hand, a yawn escaping her lips as she did so. "Mommy?" The girl said tiredly, another yawn escaping her lips after she said that.

The brunette couldn't help but smile at the small girl picking her up in her arms. "What's the matter sweetie?" The little girl hugged her mother as she was being held, resting her head on Artemis' shoulder.

"I'm tired, and I can't find my bed room," the daughter nuzzled against her mother, yawning once more.

Artemis smiled at her daughter, kissing her on the forehead. "Well, why don't we go find it then?" She suggested. With a weak nod, the young girl agreed. Artemis then walked over to Abraham, who didn't even need an explanation, simply nodding his head in understanding before he began yelling at the workers again, this time in a Scottish accent.

With Abraham knowing she was leaving, the brunette walked out of the room, heading to the bedroom she and her daughter shared. Most people would have thought it was unprofessional to bring their child to the office, and some probably thought that of her, but Artemis didn't have too much of a choice. She was a single mother, and she didn't feel comfortable leaving someone to take care of her daughter for months, and possibly years occasionally, at a time.

It didn't take long to find the bedroom, since Artemis had memorized the schematic of the lab, taking about a total of 23 minutes. Artemis entered the room, using one hand to hold her child and the other to open the door, and then close it. The room was actually quite plain, being completely cube shaped with two beds and two dressers, leaving it plenty of room for personalization. It may not have been much, but to the family of two, for now at least, it was home.

Artemis walked over to one of the beds, laying her daughter down on it, moving the covers to tuck her in. "Mommy," the little child said, looking up at her mother with tired eyes. "Are you going to be working to take down the bad guys tomorrow?" The question was a silly one, she knew, but she wanted to know what her mom's plans would be so that she knew when she could play with her.

Artemis smiled down at her child, stroking the young girl's hair. "Yeah, that's right. But we need to make sure everything is ready before we work. Don't worry, we'll play as soon as I'm free." She then leaned down, kissing the girl on the forehead. "Now get some sleep, you have a big day ahead tomorrow."

"I know mommy. My tutor right?"

"Yeah, that's right angel. You be a good girl."

The blonde nodded her head, smiling at her mother. "I will. Night mommy~!"

Artemis kissed her baby girl on the cheek, and then walked to the door. "Good night Lucina, sweet dreams." And with that, the brunette turned off the lights, and exited the room. Lucina was left alone, turning in the bed, quickly falling asleep, dreaming the happiest of dreams. A sweet innocent child, ignorant of what was really going on. Only time would tell what would happen to all of them, and what fate had in store wasn't a kind gift. Not for Lucina, Artemis, or anyone in the IMD.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Beginning of Everyday From Now On

A soft knock on the door stirred the sleeping mother from her sleep. Artemis sat up from her bed, the white covers rolling off her body, revealing that she hadn't changed out of her clothes, other than taking off her lab coat, and horrible bed head. After rubbing her eyes for a few seconds, the brunette walked over to the door, opening it to see who was knocking. This simple action revealed a girl close to Artemis' height, wearing a black, loose, short sleeved shirt, a yellow, ruffled skirt, black and white striped socks that reached up to her mid thighs, and brown, buckle shoes. Hanging from the collar was a pair of red, rectangular glasses. The girl had fair skin, neck length blond hair with a bang covering her left eye, and two green hair pins in it, interlocked to form an X on her bang.

Artemis smiled as she saw the girl, stepping out of the way for her to come in. "Thanks for coming down here Angela. I know you have tests you're needed for and such, but I can't leave my little girl alone."

Angela smiled to the older woman, walking into the room. "It's OK Mrs. Caswell. They have a few other subjects they want to study still," she walked over to Lucina's bed, kneeling down to take a look at the still sleeping girl's face. "They didn't mind booting me back a day or two, so don't worry." She swept one of the young girl's hairs out of her face and behind her ear.

"Guess I needed you more than they do then," the tall girl said quietly to herself. She then walked over and knelt down to her daughter's bed side, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Upon contact Lucina stirred slowly, her eyes fluttering open softly.

"Mommy?" The girl asked, still half asleep from the sound of her voice. "Is it work time?" Artemis just smiled at her daughter, beginning to feel bad for leaving her.

"Yes, yes it is. Mommy is needed with that silly old Abraham." She said to the child, petting her on the head. "Be good for Angela while I'm gone. And I promise to be back by lunch, OK?" With a nod of confirmation from Lucina, said girl closed her eyes again, her breathing slowing down as she began drifting off to sleep.

Once she was sure her daughter was asleep, Artemis stood back up and walked to the door with Angela following close behind. "Make sure she's entertained, alright Angela?" The brunette asked as she grabbed a prepared backpack, slinging it around one shoulder.

The blonde's smile only brightened as she raised her right hand in a mock salute. "I'll do just that Mrs. Caswell. You can count on me!" With a final nod, Artemis left the room, leaving the two blondes alone.

Now alone with the baby girl, Angela sat on the brunette's bed and watched the little Lucina. She usually was the girl's sitter, but mainly because she was the only person who volunteered. Everyone else was usually 'busy' or they plain out didn't want to. Why was a mystery since Angela found the child to be a delightful distraction from her job. Having your body devoted to science was more work than she thought it would be, but at least she wasn't in any life threatening danger. There's no way she'd accept being a test subject if her life was in danger.

As the blonde kept thinking these things, an idea popped into her head. Something to pass the time until it was actually time to wake the younger girl up. She pulled her glasses off her collar and put them on, and then pulled on her collar, sticking her hand in. She searched for a few seconds, before pulling a small notebook out of her bra. She opened it up, revealing several drawings of animals and herself, only different.

In the artwork, her face and features were the same, but her clothing choice was closer to that of a witch. She had on a tricorner hat with a pointed top and a white X on either side, and a robe that was black as pitch. The only thing that set her apart from the typical witch look was a scythe, as tall of her. She smiled at her drawing, imagining herself as a witch and flying around on her scythe.

She then reached back into her bra and pulled out an unsharpened pencil. Angela stared at it for a few brief seconds, as if doing that alone would sharpen it. Her book was set on the bed as she brought her left hand up and twirled her index finger a few times. At first it didn't seem like anything happened, but slowly a green tornado formed between the area she was circling. "Gale Slash," she whispered, the tornado turning to an air stream as it moved towards the pencil, then turned into an upside down tornado and sharpening the pencil. With a now sharpened pencil and a smile on her face, she began to sketch the sleeping girl in front of her.

It was rare for Angela to get a chance to draw anything since she was hired here. The only things she could do were things for her job. Tests, training, and getting poked and prodded with who knows what for who knows how long. Anytime they injected her with something, or stuck something in her to keep a device she couldn't tell how much time it took for sure. Sometimes it was hours, sometimes minutes, heck, she'd been kept in some experimental torture device for almost a year before people allowed her to get away from it. The mere memory of that sick device made her shiver, her left hand following suit and ruining her sketch. "Urgh! No!" She quietly yelled to herself, not wanting to wake Lucina.

Unfortunately, that wasn't so. The mere sound was more than enough to wake her up. Her covers flowed off her, not as gracefully as her mom though, as she sat up, sleep glazing over her eyes and a good night's sleep evident in her hair since there didn't appear to be a single knot in her hair. She looked over at Angela with a small smile, giving her a sweet, tiny smile. "Morning Angela-chan," Lucina said softly, still waking up, a little wave to add to her already cute demeanor.

'K-kawaii,' Angela thought, just staring at the little girl with a small blush on her face. She snapped out of the trance the girl's cute antics had out her under, smiling back to the girl. "Good morning Lucina-san. Would you like some breakfast?" She asked with kindness in her voice, earning a small giggle from the younger.

"Yes please!" Her eyes shone brightly, throwing her arms up into the air with joy. "Can I have pancakes!? With whipped cream and pecans and strawberries and apples!?" She shot out of bed, running towards the taller blonde, jumping up and down with excitement in front of her.

This didn't help keep Angela from thinking the girl as any less kawaii. She just thought it made her more kawaii. 'Is she trying to make me kawaii-gasm?' Angela inwardly sweat dropped at the idea, trying to stay focused as she smiled and patted the child on the head. "Of course. But, may I ask why apples?"

"Why apples!?" Lucina gasped in surprise, sliding backwards like she had been pushed while standing on ice. "How could you not know!? An apple a day keeps the witch doctor away!" Angela just stared at the younger girl, blinking a few times at the statement.

Honestly, she had expected something else. Something more fantasy filled or imaginative, not something she heard while growing up. "Oh? That saying? I thought you were going to say some other reason, like if you didn't you'd turn back into a pumpkin you imaginative girl you." Angela stood up, pulling the collar of her shirt out and put the paper and pencil back into her bra.

Lucina just stared at her confused as her sitter did that. "Why do you do that Angela-chan?" The afore mentioned girl looked down, realizing that she probably was setting a bad example by using her bra as a pocket.

"Er, well. You see," she stuttered out, trying to think of a good explanation. The sparkling, innocent eyes staring intently at her weren't helping any. But, maybe such innocence was what she needed to keep out of trouble. She smirked slightly, scooping the tiny girl into her arms. "Well, the only reason I do it is a personal one. It's not very proper, nor is it cool. I just do it because I don't like purses." The girl nodded in understanding, mulling over the sitter's words. "So, when you grow up, you be a better person then your dear, old, lovely and beautiful Angela-chan, OK?" The girl nodded, giggling as she did so. "Good. Now about those pancakes?"

Lucina's face lit up, hugging onto the sitter's neck. Angela patted her on the back, walking out of the room and heading to the mess hall for the breakfast. All the while, both girls couldn't help but wonder what was going on where Artemis was.

Over in lab 2310458, several loud bangs could be heard from inside, like something was banging against it. Several scientists were gathered around in a room, suspended above a much larger one that had no doors or windows, looking a lot like a canyon. Nothing was visible, but the loud banging was more than enough to convince a person that something rather large was down there. Several terminals surrounded the room, some with computers, and some without.

At one of these terminals, Abraham was sitting at it, a cup of coffee next to his desk as he began typing in some kind of code. He seemed so focused on his work that nothing could nothing could stop him. "Alright you bloody scallywags," he said in an English accent. "Test for Prototype X204 is about to commence. Are our shields prepared?"

"Grand Shields at full capacity," a random scientist across the room shouted. Said scientist turned a few dials as a low hum began to emit from a separate terminal.

"Second Reign is steady," another one shouted, followed by the flicks of a few switches from Abraham's terminal.

The sound of air releasing filled the room, a door sliding open as Artemis entered the room, looking much better than she had when she woke up. "Very good. How about Prototype X204?" Abraham turned in his chair, nodding to Artemis.

"She's in tippety top shape govena'," he replied using an Austrian accent this time. "Once activated, we can test the raw fighting abilities the golems will possess." Artemis nodded, walking to the only open area in the room, standing in front of a wall made of glass, looking down at the canyon room.

"Let her out then," she said with command, everyone typing furiously. This was it, the first test of the golem system that Abraham designed. If it worked, it would prove that things would be as easy as she promised her daughter it would be. If it didn't, than they'd work out the kinks. This one moment, would define the rest of their work from here on out.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

First Test Failure: The Institute Put At Risk

Artemis watched as the wall slid open on the opposite side of the arena below opened slowly. Through it came a large, worm-like creature. Its size was about half the distance from the arena floor to the on-looking room the scientists were located. The only thing besides its size that set it apart from being completely worm like were the set of elephant legs it walked on, the strange tusks by its mouth, and the strange color. It was yellow with a rippling effect, as if it were made out of water. It let out some kind of sound, something that sounded like a mix between an elephant, a whale, and a lion. It walked towards the center of the room it was in, the ground shaking with each step.

She turned her attention back towards the other scientists in the room, looking towards a man at the back, who frantically began typing on a keyboard. This person didn't have on a lab coat, instead sporting a black button down jacket with jeans. His skin was a deep, golden brown and his hair a forest of black curls. "The Alchemical seems calm for now. Matter levels are fluctuating at an even and steady pace," he said, not turning his gaze towards the woman.

"Good," she said as she looked back into the arena, staring at the creature below. "Then send in the prototype." The man she spoke to nodded, despite knowing that his superior wouldn't see it. The typing on his keyboard came to a halt, a window popping up on the screen in front of him. It read 'Confirm: Yes or No?'. The ravenette pressed where the 'Yes' was on the screen with his index finger, the screen rippling as he did so before going blank.

Down in the large room below, the wall across from the beast, known as an Alchemical, slowly began to open, but not as wide, or tall, as it had for the giant worm. It was about the size of a normal door one would find in an everyday house. Through it, walked out the silhouette of a small girl, probably no more than 4'6. No details had been added onto the body yet, meaning it had no distinguishing details other than the sheer lack of it. The only thing about the prototype that could be definitively seen, other than its smoke grey, metal body, were a set of eyes with golden irises, filled with an ocean of questions and curiosity. They contrasted against her body, making them stand out and visible even from the room above. As she walked out the door, the brunette in charge walked over to one side of the room to look at their creation.

'Beautiful,' she thought. She turned her head to look at the Alchemical, painting the image of the two of them, the prototype golem and the mindless beast, battling it out in an exchange of pulse pounding combat. A true spectacle that would be one written for ages to come. Or it could be written, if this wasn't a top secret assignment. Once all the scientists all died, no one would ever know this had happened. A frown had begun to form on her face, but that would change after what she saw.

She looked over to the creature, thinking that she saw something off about it. Artemis wasn't completely sure, but she thought it looked like the Alchemical had shrunk a little. If it had the amount was too miniscule to definitively tell from where she was, so she could only guess. "Um, ma'am," the man who had opened the door for their prototype spoke, slight anticipation dripping from his voice. That slight undertone was enough to get the head scientist's attention, turning towards him with a quizzical expression.

"Ray, what's wrong?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing that his screen had been turned on again.

"The Alchemical's fluctuation just spiked briefly, and then it went flat," the black haired man, whose name seemed to be Ray, pointed to the screen, a straight line running across it, "as if it had gone dormant."

"Dormant?" She looked back at the Alchemical, noting that it was being too still. Was it planning something? Had it died?

Her question was answered when a quick, repetitive beeping sounded from Ray's computer, catching everyone's attention. The worm reared its head back, looking directly up, letting loose a roar similar to the one it had earlier, but this one was much, much louder. The intense energy released by the simple roar was enough to cause the ground, and even the hanging room, to shake violently, knocking several scientists who were standing flat onto the ground, Artemis being included in those few, while the ones in chairs held onto their stations desperately.

The brunette looked towards Ray, her nerves standing on end and her expression overwhelmed with fear as she pointed at the console. "Activate Vorpal Protocol, now!" She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling about what was going on.

Ray nodded and began typing frantically, smoke beginning to come from the keyboard before it spat sparks at him, causing the male to wince back. "I can't! The computer circuits are over loaded!" He yelled in panic, getting up from his chair to grab a fire extinguisher from the other side of the room. 'Damn it,' Artemis thought. 'Just what the hell is going on down there!?'

Prototype X204 stood in the arena, staring up at the worm-like creature as it roared loudly, the ground beneath her shaking violently as she stood unaffected. What she saw as she looked at it wasn't like how a normal person would view it. Instead it was like a person looking through a scope, crosshairs in the center and aimed directly at the Alchemical. "Target: Identified," she said in a monotone, purely mechanical, voice. The tips of her fingers opened up, each one changing to shape what would look like the barrel of a gun. "Mataranda Alchemical. Wurm Class." She began walking forward slowly, the beast halting its roar only to look towards the thing approaching it. "Self-Replicable." With one swift movement, the golem turned to its left, aiming both hands at a spire and shooting at it repeatedly. From her finger guns came out bullets made out of pure magic, glowing pink in color. The bullets easily pierced through the rock, crushing it within seconds, kicking up a large dust cloud.

A soft cry came from behind the rock after it was crushed. It was revealed afterwards that the source was some kind of giant slug, rust red in color with the same ripple effect on its body, holes riddling its body. "Takamata Alche-" before she could finish that thought, a blue, spear-like object hit her directly in the back at an angle, spiraling as it had begun digging into her back. This caused the golem to stumble forward a few steps before falling to the ground, the object pierced through the right side of her chest and into the stone floor. This pinned down the prototype, despite its efforts to push itself off the ground multiple times.

Meanwhile, the worm, apparently called a Mataranda Alchemical, turned its body towards the wall to its right, seemingly staring it down. Slowly, its body began to shrink, a flood of reds, blues, and pinks out of it. Once they hit the floor, the colors separating and forming different shapes, some slug like, some shaped like a tadpole, twice the size of the slugs, with a large mouth full of molars, drool dripping from its mouth, and 4 limbs to allow it to walk, and others shaped like humans, each a solid mass of a single color, the same rippling effect on them. Only, the pinks didn't turn into the slug or human shape. Instead, the pink globs either were the tadpole things, or ones that looked like a grape with human limbs. After each one was completely formed, the Mataranda slumped down to the ground exhausted, a gust of dust flowing as it hit the ground.

As it did that, the grape like beings walked towards the wall it had been facing, the others created Alchemicals following behind them. They all stopped a foot from the wall, each "grape" glowing brightly. Without a single moment to waste, the spheres flew off of their bodies, each grape things sending a total of 13 each, and hit the wall, exploding upon contact, kicking up a cloud of debris and dust, hiding any damage they created. Within a few seconds, an alarm began blaring loudly, filling both the arena and the entire lab. The smoke cleared to reveal a hole in the wall, large enough for all except the giant worm to fit through.

Artemis watched in horror as the events unfolded. The Alchemicals were going to get into the lab. She couldn't allow them to get to her daughter. The idea of what would happen, she couldn't bear it. So without second thought, she ran to the back of the room, repeatedly pressing the button to open the doors impatiently, her mind unable to think of anything but her daughter's safety. Once they opened she stepped through the door and into the elevator she had come in through, rapidly pressing the first floor button, as if it would cause the elevator to bend to her will. She had to get to her child. Without her, she'd have nothing left. No family, no one to care for. She'd just have a job and that's it. She didn't want that, she wanted her child to be safe.

Meanwhile, in the mess hall, Angela and little Lucina were having breakfast together. Or rather, Lucina was eating and Angela was cutting up the pancake for her. It was something the younger's mother had told her she did. It wasn't because of a lack of trust, but a want to make sure that her only child wouldn't harm herself with a knife. Angela didn't mind at all, watching the toddler's expression light up with each movement of the knife. The sitter at least gave Lucina the freedom to bring up the food to her mouth with a fork; a freedom the girl didn't take for granted.

The mess hall was a simple grey with no windows or anything. They were underground so there really wasn't any point to have any windows. The tables were all blue benches, lined up in 7 different rows, 3 benches per row. Near the doors was a food line, people behind a counter with assorted toppings in baskets. They looked like they were cleaning up after they had finished breakfast service or something akin to it. Angela took all of that in as she continued to slice up the pancakes.

Angela enjoyed watching the girl's expression, seeing something she never had at her age. She hadn't been treated like she was treating her responsibility, how she made all kinds of cute faces and noises at something as simple as a pancake. A mixture of rage and jealousy swirled inside of her, secretly wanting to be in Lucina's place. She kept it all hidden though, knowing such a feat was an impossible wish.

Halfway through the pancake, she put a hand on the younger blond's head and ruffled her hair a bit. "Enjoying your pancake there are you?" She heard a soft giggle in response, smiling at the girl's response.

"Mhm! They're just like how mommy makes them," she said cheerfully, watching as Angela began cutting more pieces for her. "She said the main ingredient was love, and I think whoever made this one agreed with her." Angela finished her cuts, her smile seemingly more tired than it was before. Lucina didn't notice this, too focused on the pancakes. "What about you Angela?"

Hearing the question, the said girl moved her left bangs behind her ear, curiously looking at Lucina. "What do you mean?" She set down the set of silverware, watching the young blond pick up the fork.

"Well," she stabbed one of the pieces, picking it up and pointing at Angela with it, "didn't your mom ever make you pancakes with love?" She then brought it up to her lips, taking the bite into her mouth and swallowing it, a large smile on her face and what appeared to be a tiny, barely noticeable blush.

Angela's smile faltered, looking down at the table. "My mother," she paused for a few seconds. It wasn't something she wasn't comfortable talk about, but the child's curious gleam in in her eye made it difficult to stay silent. "My mother actually died giving birth to me. She wasn't too healthy, and delivering me just pushed her beyond her limits." Her voice was sad and her body language showed that it was a sensitive subject. "My dad never came around either so I don't know him."

Without any warning, she felt something sticky poke her cheek. With a raised brow, she turned her head to see the cause, only to see that Lucina was holding out her fork, pancake hanging off the end, for Angela. "Pancake?" She asked innocently, obviously offering it to the girl.

Angela gave her a "Why?" look, only for the pancake to be pressed against her lips. "Mommy always made pancakes when I'm upset. Made me feel better," she explained as if it made all the sense in the world.

Thinking it would be best to humor the girl, she opened her mouth and let Lucina feed her the slice. She bit down, finding the flavors all mixing together well. It even brought a slight smile to her lips. She swallowed only for Lucina to look at the remaining pancake. "I never knew my daddy. I always wondered what one was like." Her expression was neutral, weighing down on Angela's heart.

"But it's not all bad," she said, her tone happier than she looked. "Mommy always made sure I was taken care of." Her smile grew as she picked up another piece, eating it happily. "I was never lonely. I guess I sometimes take that for granted but," she stared at the last piece remaining, pushing it to Angela. "But I think that as long as you have someone who cares for you, it's all good." She then gave a bright smile to her sitter, hugging her as tightly as someone her age could. "So, I want to be that person. Like your sister."

The Elder blond looked at the girl confused. She was touched by the gesture, and couldn't help but hug back. "My... sister?" She said, feeling like it was OK to say that. "Yeah. I think I'm good with that." A smile began to form on her face, lifting the girl up onto her own lap.

Before anything else could be said, the alarms began blaring, Angela's features instantly changing to a worried one. "We need to move, now," she said, quickly grabbing the last bite with her hands and eating it. She picked up Lucina in both her arms, not bothering to explain what was going on. She ran towards the nearest door, hoping to escape before things went south.

Unfortunately, things went south quicker than expected. The wall next to the door exploded right as she got to it, sending both girls flying away. Angela held on tight, using her body as a shield to keep the girl safe. Her back skid along the ground for a few feet, feeling a small sting come from it. She slowly stood, glaring in the direction of whatever it was that made the explosion.

Out of the wall came several blue, red, and pink Alchemicals, assorted from the human-like ones to the slugs and even to the grape like ones. Angela just grit her teeth, watching as they came towards her. She gripped her 'sister' tightly, beginning to feel fear. Wait, no - not fear. This was anger. These things had escaped and actively sought her out for her magic. She was enraged at herself for putting Lucina in danger. But she knew what she had to do: remain calm.

"Stay away!" She shouted, throwing an arm forward. In front of her an emerald circle appeared, a torrent of winds shooting out of it, blowing all of the Alchemicals back through the hole they came through.

Lucina had had her eyes closed this entire time, unaware of what was going on. Upon opening them she saw something that caused her to mouth "Beautiful."

Angela's skin had turned a forest green, her hair whipping about in all directions. Lucina had never before seen anything she viewed as beautiful as what she saw before her.

Angela's expression was something with a calm out expression with a deep rage seething beneath the surface. She only thought about keeping Lucina safe. She was going to keep her promise to Artemis, no matter the cost. "Let's get you out of here," Angela told her, staring as more creatures came in through the hole in the wall. "I'll get you to Artemis, no matter what."


End file.
